Saturday, September 19, 1998 Last modified at 3:27 a.m. on Saturday, September 19, 1998

TNRCC collects $4.6 million in fines

AUSTIN(AP) - The state collected more than $4.6 million in fines for environmental violations during the last fiscal year, a $600,000 increase from 1997, according to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission.

"It is clear that repeat violators are being penalized," TNRCC Chairman Barry McBee said Friday.

The attorney general's office won 47 civil cases worth $19.5 million on the agency's behalf, said spokesman Patrick Crimmins.

The TNRCC estimated that violators, including businesses and local governments, spent an additional $74 million in fiscal year 1998 to comply with the law. This is the first year the agency has estimated the cost of compliance.